“Nearly $3 trillion of the U.S. economy’s GDP is at risk due to weather every year and ClimaCell’s technology is poised to help verticals like aviation, insurance, financial services, logistics and defense change that,” said Rich Boyle, a general partner at the investment firm Canaan Partners, which led the new financing for ClimaCell alongside the mobility-focused investment firm Fontinalis Partners.

Founded by Ford Motor Company executive chairman Bill Ford, Fontinalis’ participation reveals how ClimaCell’s technology could play a key role in the development of another industry — autonomous driving.

“Fontinalis invests in the most impactful companies across mobility,” said Chris Cheever, co-founder and partner at Fontinalis, in a statement. “ClimaCell’s cutting-edge technology enables the mobility industry to harness weather data in entirely new ways, driving operational efficiencies and unlocking new value for businesses in mobility sub-sectors such as aviation, connected cars, logistics, on-demand services, and many others.”

The company was founded by a former Israeli Defense Forces air force pilot, Shimon Elkabetz, who drew on his own weather-related near-death experience to launch the business. On maneuvers in Israel returning from a mission, Elkabetz flew into a foggy cloud-bank that his traffic control tower said should not be there.

From that experience, the Harvard Business School graduate began developing ClimaCell’s technology and services. The company uses information on the interference network providers are facing to determine what kind of weather a city is experiencing, according to Elkabetz.

The technology was compelling enough to attract the interest of an investor group led by the Australian, Israeli and U.S.-focused investment firm Square Peg Capital. “ClimaCell is changing the way massive industries assess, manage and make decisions around weather risk,” said Boyle in a statement.